Jimmy on the Couch
by Jack The Obssesive Maniac
Summary: Jimmy can't seem to handle his feelings for Cindy anymore. Can a therapy session with Goddard help? Or is truly hopeless? Rated T for Dark Themes. Now with Three Parts! J/C
1. Part One

Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Goddard. It used to be like that but-" he trailed off, his eyebrows furrowed together as he fell into deep thought. "I'd like to say something like 'we are not kids anymore' or that we simply grew out of those feelings, but I guess in truth- it may just be that we still are children. Clinging to our pride to the point that it makes us miserable."

Goddard nodded, and made notes in the thousands of microscopic super computers that made his brain. It had surprised Goddard, when his master had asked him to download data on human psychology so that he could act as a therapist- although he guessed that it made sense in a way. Jimmy and Goddard had been through a lot together. They knew each other. Goddard loved Jimmy in the same way any human being would love their closest friend, and Jimmy knew it. He also returned the sentiment.

Jimmy had been alone for the better part of his life- not finding friends in Carl or Sheen until he was in grade school. He had created Goddard to be his dog and his companion. And also, a friend. In all honesty, Jimmy didn't really know when or how Goddard had managed to gain self-awareness, but it never stopped them from being friends.

Nothing could.

Goddard flickered the lights in his eyes. His signal for Jimmy to continue. "We're fifteen years old now, Goddard. I know, technically, that sill makes us children. But... everybody else is growing up at an alarming rate. Even I have. Although, I'm still not quite as tall as Vortex..." he stopped mid-sentence, and shook his head to get the images of Cindy out of his head. "It seems as if this condition of mine is getting worse, every day. It was hard enough when we were ten, but now... Well, you've seen her Goddard. She's hardly an unattractive specimen."

Jimmy ran his hands through his long brown hair, and sighed. Goddard could tell what he was trying to say. Jimmy was barely able to so much as look at Cindy without blushing furiously. And while it seemed to make everybody else laugh- it wasn't as much fun for him. In fact, it had reached the point that seeing her- and feeling his heart begin to speed up, and his brain seem to shut down... It was beginning to feel torturous.

It had begun to hurt. Really hurt. And there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. No matter how much time and energy he put into trying to keep a bottle on these feelings, they just kept on coming back with a horrible vengeance. He had tried a few experiments, of course. He had tried hypnosis, and manipulating the chemicals in his brain- but he simply couldn't seem to do anything to his feelings for Cindy. They were too deeply imbued into his psyche. They were just as much a part of him as his smarts, and fascination with space.

"She has begun to take over my every thought. No matter what I'm doing- there always seems to be a part of me that is thinking about nothing but her. It's unhealthy. I know. I know that this is starting to spiral into an obsession but- what am I supposed to do about it, Goddard?" he asked. Goddard's chest opened, and a line of green computer text ran across the screen. But Jimmy didn't need to read it. He knew what Goddard was going to say already.

"Yeah, yeah. Get into a relationship with her. Become boyfriend and girlfriend and live happily ever after- ... You and I both know that it won't work out that way. I've seen the future- and no matter what I do, we will always have problems. She deserves better than anything I can give her... So what's the point in even trying anymore? I just... I just want to give it all up. The arguing... the sleepless nights I get thinking about her... the uh-... dreams..."

"I know I do not need to remind you of this, Jimmy. But hundreds of young people go through this sort of thing every day. And most of them seem to fare well." Goddard's robotic voice jarred the silence of the lab room. Jimmy nodded, and sighed for the umpteenth time. It seemed like he did a lot of that whenever he started thinking about Cindy.

"Yes, I do know that. I see it every day at school. Couples being made and couples breaking up. I guess a large part of me doesn't want to end up like them with Cindy. Not just because of the inevitability of our breaking up- but because I still want to be different. I don't want to be just another helpless teenager cluelessly suffering through puberty. But that seems to be what I have become." said Jimmy. "Is that simply another part of my arrogant personality- that I have to be different and better than everybody else?"

Goddard voice shook the air again. "Of course not. Individualism is something that all human beings aspire too." Although Goddard's voice was robotic, it still seemed too resonate with compassion. Goddard hated seeing Jimmy like this. He wanted to see Jimmy and Cindy together forever after more than anybody. But Jimmy was too focused on logic. He was too scared of being vulnerable. And to top it off, Jimmy already knew all of these things about himself- and all he seemed to be able to do about it was constantly berate himself.

Jimmy sighed, and sat up on the therapist's couch that he had made especially for this situation.

"There's another reason why I asked you to do this for me." Jimmy admitted. Goddard had though as much. Jimmy had been thinking about all of this by himself for a long time- so something had to have happened to make him suddenly ask Goddard to play psychiatrist.

"Nick and Cindy started dating today."

He let the sentence hang in the air for a bit. Somehow, actually saying it made it feel more real. More painful.

Goddard's lower jaw fell, hanging just barely on its hinges. Well no wonder Jimmy had seemed so withdrawn lately. Goddard knew that it couldn't have just been about the failures he'd been suffering lately in the lab- or the fact that he was too busy to leave Earth any more.

Sure, this could simply be another plan that Cindy had concocted to make Jimmy finally buckle down and admit that he like her but-... even if it was, it still had to hurt. They hadn't spoken to each other for a year now- well, nothing beyond the occasional argument that is- since Cindy's thirteenth birthday party. With this much of a distance between them, it was more than plausible that Cindy really had gotten over what little 'thing' she had for him, and moved on.

Goddard knew otherwise. Cindy's feelings for him were easily just as strong as his. But something inside of Jimmy just couldn't accept that. Maybe it was his low self-esteem rearing its ugly head again. Maybe it was something even deeper. Neither of them knew anymore.

Jimmy stood up, his fast action taking Goddard by surprise.

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" he yelled, his face beginning to go red with fury. "PUKIN' PLUTO- HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE THE LAST TIME I SPENT A DAY WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT STUFF LIKE THIS! WHY HAVE I BECOME SO-... so..." he trailed off again. His voice began to waver, as his eye began to overflow with tears.

"Weak... so... weak..." he mumbled to himself.

Jimmy left the room, angrily wiping away the tears on his sleeves. He had disabled alien star-destroyers that were less complicated than this. All of this emotion... it was getting tangled up like a box of old cords- and it just seemed completely endless.

"Jimmy... Are you okay?" Goddard asked.

Jimmy winced at the sound of Goddard's voice. Again, despite it being completely mechanical, he could hear the worry behind it. "Sorry, Goddard. It's just too frustrating... It's easy for everybody else to talk about how frustrating it is that we don't just get together. But- look at me. I'm a mess. I'm not fit to be in a relationship. I'm not even sure I can make her happy anymore." he said, sadly.

If Goddard could have, he would have 'gulped'. He had heard this sort of talk before. He had been lucky that he had been able to talk Jimmy out of it- with help from Carl and Sheen. But Goddard had never seen Jimmy this low before. And he was afraid that even with the help of his mother- he might not be able to save him this time.

As Goddard had feared, Jimmy began to rummage through the draws underneath the giant computer screen, until he found it. It was the old Brain Drain helmet that he had used to turn himself into a 'normal boy'. After brushing away some of the dust that had collected on the surface of it, he turned it around. On the back of it was a special addition that he had put onto it a week after Cindy's birthday party.

'The Emoti-Drain' were the words scrawled across it. Underneath it was a dial, and a few numbers.

"Do remember the night I made this, Goddard?" he asked. Goddard nodded behind him, his ears drooping behind his head. Yes, Goddard remembered perfectly. It was after Cindy's birthday. Jimmy had given her a 'Neutronic Necklace' as her birthday present. It was a golf-ball sized atom, with large protons swirling around it at all times. He had spent the better part of the year crafting it for her, along with a string of diamonds to act as its chain.

One evening, after a particularly nasty fight, Cindy took the necklace in her hands, and threw it into the gutter. It fell into the depths almost in slow motion. Jimmy had stopped yelling then. He just stared at the gutter with a blank look on his face. In truth, it felt like he had been hit by a truck. In fact, part of him would have preferred that rather than watch Cindy throw away what he had dedicated eight long months into creating just for her.

Of course, he didn't let it show. He just yelled at her lightly for being an idiot- and Cindy did the same. But later that night, Jimmy had searched through the entire sewage system until he finally recovered the atom.

Holding it in his hands, he felt as if his heart had been ripped to shreds. Maybe Cindy didn't know how much he had put into his present for her. How much meaning it had for him... but that only made him feel worse. The pain stayed inside of him for the rest of the week, churning whenever he saw her. She was so care-free... and it made him feel like an idiot.

And if there was one thing that Jimmy Neutron didn't like, it was feeling like an idiot.

One night, Carl and Sheen both received an emergency call from Goddard. Jimmy was about to do something drastic. Jimmy was about to delete his emotions for good. So that he would never have to feel anything again. No more pain, no more joy... just nothing. Sheen and Carl reacted surprisingly quickly- and it was one of the few times when Goddard actually understood why Jimmy was friends with these two weirdoes'.

They were good kids. And they understood the pain of being an outcast better than anybody else.

It had taken a lot of convincing on their part, to stop Jimmy from going through with his plans. And neither of them had ever spoken about it since.

Jimmy stared at the helmet for another few seconds, and then... he put it back. And locked the draw. Then, he moved himself lazily onto his computer chair and sat back on it- taking a few short deep breaths.

"It's not like I'm the victim here..." he muttered to himself. "I do just as much to Cindy as she does to me. Well, maybe not quite as much but... My hands are not clean..." Slowly staring back up at the computer screen, he motioned for Goddard to join him. Goddard happily jumped on top of his master/friends lap. Jimmy had upgraded him with enough light metal that he longer weighed as much as a car- so Jimmy barely flinched when Goddard settled down.

"I'm sorry that I make you worry like this so much, boy..." he said. "What do you say we watch some more footage from the future?" he asked. Goddard nodded, and laid his head down. After a few more minutes, he would drift into sleep mode. It felt like the drama for the night was over- and everything was steadily going back to its peaceful norm.

Jimmy smiled, and turned on the computer screens 'Future-O-Vision'.

Maybe, one day- Jimmy might see a future that really did end with him and Cindy living happily ever after. And maybe it would give him the confidence he needed to tell her- that she was the single most important thing in his life. And without her, he didn't know how he could possibly continue to exist.

Maybe.

But for now, he would continue on with his usual regimen. Finish high school with his friends, go to college... Take over NASA and rub his hands together nefariously as he smiled evilly. He would continue to live as much as he could without her. And then one day- if he ever saw hope. If he could be certain that he could be the person that he felt Cindy deserved...

Then he would go for it. And find himself in a whole new world of adventure.

And hopefully... It wouldn't be too late.

...

It wasn't.

...

* * *

**(AN: Ah, that was a lot of fun. I've been a Jimmy Neutron fan since the movie, but I haven't been able to finish a good JN story before. So this is a first for me. Please Read, and Please Review. Also, let me know if you think that I should expand on this and make it into a multichap- or maybe just leave it as it is. Thanks for reading!)**


	2. Part Two

"OW! Mother of Isaac Newton!" Jimmy muttered. He stared at the cut with a frown. This wasn't the first time he had cut his finger while working. In fact, in one of the more chaotic accidents- he had actually lost an eye before. And even more than one finger or toe. Luckily, he hadn't done anything quite stupid enough to lose an arm or something yet- but lately it felt as if his days were numbered.

He had toyed around with the idea of replacing his eye with a cybernetic replacement. But in the end he simply did the same thing he had done to replace the odd finger or toe. He had already been capable of cloning human beings for a long time- and it was a fairly simple matter to grow replacement dexterities with a small sample of blood, flesh and bone marrow. To speed up the process, he had built his old Quantum Replay device into the small glass tube that he used to form new 'parts'. And he had attached that to a small white egg timer.

It looked like some kind of macabre microwave but it did its job.

Luckily for him, Jimmy hadn't been quite too careless with the laser cutter- so he had only cut himself a little. It was a simple matter to wrap it up in his own brand of Neutronic Gauze and get back to work. But this kind of thing was an example of something that truly made Goddard worry. It wasn't just that Jimmy refused to wear gloves when he worked with some of the more dangerous tools he had created over the years- arguing that gloves wouldn't put up any kind of resistance to a laser cutter or a water saw, they would just get in the way. He worked best with his bare hands. Still- he did manage to start wearing reinforced eye-wear after the whole 'losing an eye' incident. So at least he was making a little progress.

Still, Goddard couldn't worry about Jimmy at the moment- because he was the very thing that he was currently working on. Jimmy had held back on making any kind of real physical upgrades to Goddard, because it only took one mistake for Goddard to... for lack of a better word... die. It was much like performing surgery on a human being. Granted, there wasn't nearly as much welding involved in human surgery- but the analogy fit.

One of the trade secrets that Jimmy had when it came to the creation of Goddard was that Goddard was included with Jimmy's very first foray into 'Hyper Cube' technology. In the centre of Goddard's insides, the Hyper Cube mark one glowed with a familiar bright purple. It reminded Jimmy of a heart. And it really was, more or less, the heart of Goddard. Every application that couldn't fit directly inside of the small metal rectangle that made his body- was stored inside of that Hyper Cube.

The Hyper Cube itself was a pocket of infinite space inside a small purple cube. On the top of it was a glowing white circle that acted as entrance and exit to whatever he put in there. It was hard to come up with a way to stop the hyper cube from sucking everything around it inside of it- but he had managed.

Now at this point in the operation on Goddard- he knew what he had to do. And it was the trickiest part. He had to remove the cube and replace it with the new one. And he had to do this without letting Goddard go empty of power for even a split second. Because there was a slim chance that if that happened... all of the data on his hard drive would simply disappear. All of his memories and... The thing that made him special. He didn't know exactly what that was... he hesitated to refer to it as a 'soul', although the term certainly fit. But Jimmy didn't like to give any sort of acknowledgement to the supernatural. So he just called it 'Goddard's Gift'.

It seemed appropriate at least.

Jimmy gulped. Now was the time. He knew that Goddard had an emergency power source inside of his brain- a small battery of the Martian 'infinite power' that he had managed to get from the rock aliens on Mars during his second visit. That thought reminded him of something that he took note of in the back of his mind.

_'Note; Thanksgiving with Brobot's family, the Martians, the Space Bandits and April on Mars...'_

He let the thought run its course, and then focused his attention back on Goddard. As gingerly as possible, he pulled out the Hyper Cube mark one. Then after taking a deep breath, he picked up the new Hyper Cube. He called this one the Hyper Cube 'VX'. It was a combination of technologies from across the universe and for some reason- it glowed an incredible emerald green. He tried not to think of the person that it reminded him of. Instead, he placed the Hyper Cube down deep into the hole in Goddard's inner workings, and spent the next few hours carefully rewiring him to it.

He had to take his time- there was no other way. He had to make sure the wrong wires didn't cross or touch and make a spark, and he had to make sure they were all connected as firmly as possible. He didn't care about what happened to the bones in his hands- he just had to make sure everything went well. And with a hundred thousand possible problems and a track record like his- that felt like a very real possibility.

Finally, it was time for the biggest part of the day. Sliding his still sore index finger across Goddard's jawline, until he found the emergency switch behind his ear, Jimmy took a deep breath and flicked the switch.

The lights that made Goddard's eye's flickered for a second and then... nothing.

Jimmy flinched. He flicked the switch on and off a few more times, but still... nothing. His heart began to sink. "No..." his voice calm at first. Matter of fact. As if he were politely disagreeing with a friend.

"No..." this time it was scared. He began to tremble. His legs started to buckle underneath him, as his thought process screeched to a halt. "No..." he was desperate. Sweat began to pour down his face as if he we being sprayed with water. And then, it finally sunk in.

_'I just killed Goddard. My best friend... I have just murdered my best friend...'_

Time seemed to screech to a stop as well. Everything did. The world stopped turning. His heart stopped beating. And then, he exploded. "NO! NO! NOOOOO!" he screamed, "YOU! WHAT-..." he couldn't form words anymore. He was choking on sobs. He picked up some the tools that he had just been using, and threw them across the room. Unsatisfied, he wrapped his knuckled around the solid steel door with a loud thud. He broke almost every bone in his hand- but it barely registered. He was already in too much pain for his mind to handle.

This time, his legs really did buckle under him. "L-LEAPTONS!" he screamed. "PLUTO!" his voice was practically crackling because of the heavy sobs that refused to stop coming. "N-..." all of a sudden, the rush of anger was gone.

"Neutron..." he spat.

_'He trusted you, Neutron.'_ he told himself. _'And you failed him. Betrayed him. Just like you've hurt everybody in this town. How much misery do you think that your inventions have caused others? How much pain? Do remember when Sheen went missing? Don't kid yourself. It was your fault. You're lucky that he didn't die...'_

He was drowning in misery. All of the guilt and self-hatred that he had ever felt seemed to return to him in one fowl swoop. His thoughts began to take a turn for the worst. Heading down the pathway to the place of no return.

And then...

"Bark, bark?"

Jimmy turned around slowly, to see Goddard standing on all fours on the operating table, his eye-lights on full beam. He tilted his head in concern, and opened the panel in his chest. "What's the matter, Jimmy?" he asked. His robotic voice echoed throughout the small room, and rung in his ears.

Jimmy chuckled weakly. "I... I think I broke my hand..." he mumbled. Goddard jumped off the operating table and scanned Jimmy's hand. Slowly, he processed the data and took a few x-ray pictures.

"Correct." Goddard said simply. Jimmy nodded but didn't say anything else. Goddard could tell all too well that Jimmy was vulnerable. He was a complete mess.

"Let us- Allow Voxx and I to help." said Goddard. Jimmy nodded, and made his way out of the operating room, clutching his hand.

* * *

After a scare like that, normally Jimmy would lock himself in his room for a few days in order to give himself time to recuperate. But Goddard had managed to convince him to go visit the Candy Bar for a 'Triple Fudge Monster' to calm the nerves. Feeling as if his blood sugars were dangerously low- Jimmy shrugged and nodded. He was still a little detached from the scare- so he was fairly agreeable.

Before heading out, Jimmy had time to have a shower, and bandage his hand. The fabric was transparent, which meant that avoiding a scared look from his parents would be made all the more easy. By the time he had finished, he looked at his watch to see that the time was... one pm. Jimmy flinched. He had a habit of losing track of time but... he had started the Goddard upgrade a little over twenty-four hours ago. Well, at least that was why he felt so tired.

But, rather than simply fall asleep only to be awoken in the morning and sent off to school- he decided to take the walk with Goddard to the Candy Bar. After all- he hardly got much of any real exercise lately. And although he was just going to ruin any positive effects that the walking might have by eating his own weight in ice-cream, he decided that it would be a good idea.

Striding out of his room in fresh clothes, he gave his parents his very best fake smile, and then headed out the door.

On their way there, Jimmy was struck by a feeling of nostalgia. 'Was it really that long ago that their group of six would walk together to the Candy Bar- all of us laughing and smiling.' he thought to himself. 'Cindy and I used to fight a lot less back then. Sheen and Libby would flirt every now and again, or they and Carl would strike up a conversation that involved Llama's, Ultralord, and music. Strangely, the only thing that they never liked adding to the mix was the subject of science. Much to the chagrin of Cindy and I.'

He stopped short for a second, when he realized that he was smiling to himself. Goddard stopped beside him, and looked up- tilting his head in the familiar gesture for concern. Jimmy smiled again, and gave Goddard a pat on the head with his good hand. Without any words between them, they finally made their way to the large glass doors of the Candy Bar.

Goddard was chivalrous enough to open the door for his master, and Jimmy muttered a polite 'thank you'. And then, after scanning his eyes across the room, he saw two familiar faces. With a tired smile, Jimmy slowly made his way over to the table near the window, where Carl and Sheen were talking animatedly.

"No-no-no! Because Llama Boy can use the whistle to distract him, a-and then, he's done for!"

"Carl! Llama Boy is a crossing guard! How many times do I have to tell you? He doesn't stand a chance against Ultralord!"

"Hey! Llama bites hurt!"

Sheen snorted, but then he noticed Jimmy. With his eye's wide with excitement, Sheen stood up out of the chair. "JIMMY!" he bellowed. Everybody in the Candy Bar turned around to face them, saw who it was, and then went back to their own devices.

Everybody knew Jimmy, Sheen and Carl.

While usually he would be embarrassed or frustrated by Sheen's incredible eagerness and lack of any sort of volume control- Jimmy instead felt a rush of gratitude. It felt like forever since he had last seen his friends. And from the way they were looking at him, he could tell that they both felt the same way.

"Ji-mmy!" Carl yelled, although at a much lower decibel than Sheen. The two of them waved him over to join them excitedly- and Jimmy sat down to look at the menu. "Hello, Carl. Hey, Sheen. Been a while, huh?" said Jimmy. "Yeah! Too long- Hey GODDARD!" Sheen yelled, again. This time, nobody looked their way. Goddard barked happily in response.

"Yeah, hi Goddard. How have you been, Jim?" asked Carl. Jimmy shrugged, and the three of them began to delve into some small talk about their favourite subjects. That was, in case you could possibly forget- Llamas, Ultralord and science. After a few minutes, Sam approached the three of them with a menu in his hands.

"So, are you kids just goin' to loiter around, or are you going to order somethin'. Hurry it up, I'm not getting any younger, yeah!" said Sam. Jimmy smiled, and let his best friends order first.

"An Ultra-Flurp River!"

"Uh- um... Non-fat, non-dairy Super Lardo Donut Supreme?"

"Bark! Bark!"

Sam nodded and muttered to himself as he wrote down the orders. "Flurp River... S.L Donut Supreme... Motor Oil and Aluminium with extra aluminium... okay! What do you want, genius boy? Yeah!" said Sam.

"Double Fudge Monster, please." said Jimmy. Carl and Sheen widened their eyes and looked at Jimmy as if they had found a new respect for him. "Wow, Jimmy! Kickin' it old school!" said Sheen. "Yeah! I haven't had one of those since... since that chocolate monster invasion..." Carl trailed off, but Jimmy ignored it.

"Alright- I'll get that to ya in a minute, so hold yer horses, Yeah!" Sam said, before shuffling off behind the Candy Bar counter.

"So- what are you guys doing here?" Jimmy asked, casually. "I mean, other than arguing." Sheen grinned. Actually- we're on a triple date! With Libby, and Elke and-..." all of a sudden, Sheen fell silent. Which was never, ever a good sign. When Jimmy opened his mouth to ask Sheen what else, Carl suddenly spoke up, seemingly having cracked after less than three seconds worth of pressure.

"WE'RE MEETING CINDY AND NICK, TOO!" he yelled. Sheen grit his teeth and hissed something at Carl, who looked more than a little apologetic.

It took Jimmy a few seconds to register this information, and even longer to figure out how he should react. Jealousy was out of the question, because he had no right to be. After all, Cindy was allowed to date whoever she wanted. He had no control over that. That also removed Anger, and Sadness. Happiness would seem too insincere so...

And then, for the first time in a few months now- Jimmy gave an honest expression.

Blank.

"Oh, okay. Should I leave?" he asked casually. Carl and Sheen exchanged worried looks. "Uh- n-no. I mean- You can..." Carl trailed off, and Sheen didn't seem to be having any luck finding words either. With a shrug, Jimmy carefully made his way out of the chair and gave his friends a wave. "Alright then. I'll see you two later" he said, as he made his way to the door. Goddard trailed behind him, not face Carl or Sheen.

Both Goddard and Jimmy knew that they couldn't blame Carl or Sheen for this. They had been friends with Cindy for almost as long as he had now. But while Jimmy felt a little too numbed to feel betrayed in any way, Goddard certainly didn't. Carl and Sheen hadn't put any effort in to bring Jimmy out of this 'low' he had been suffering for the past few months now. After they had helped stop Jimmy from using the Emoti-Drain on himself, they had simply stopped visiting. Jimmy hadn't noticed, but Goddard did. They were scared of Jimmy now. They were scared that if they saw him and said the wrong thing- which they are known for doing- that they might just push Jimmy off the edge.

They loved Jimmy just as much as Goddard did. But that didn't stop Goddard for feeling angry at them for letting their own personal fears get in the way of helping their friend. But then again... they didn't know about the depths from which Jimmy had started to fall. They couldn't. Because just as Carl and Sheen stopped seeing him, he stopped seeing them.

Goddard whined. Maybe there was no one to blame. It just would have been so much easier if there was... All of a sudden, Goddard yelped- as the door to the Candy Bar opened just as Jimmy had reached for it, and Cindy Vortex slammed into Jimmy at full force. Nick was standing behind her. Apparently, they had been busy chatting and hadn't been looking where they were going.

"LEAPING LEAPTONS!" Jimmy screamed.

This time everybody in the Candy Bar did turn around. Goddard too. For a second, Goddard thought that Jimmy was simply angry at Cindy for knocking him over for the umpteenth time. But then, Goddard noticed something. Jimmy had landed directly on top of his newly broken hand. If Goddard could have gulped- he would have.

"Hey! What's your problem, Neutron! Watch where you're going!" she yelled, angrily. She looked to be just as surprised by Jimmy's reaction as everybody else, but she wasn't going to let that show.

Jimmy stood up, muttering to himself incoherently. Glancing up at Goddard, Jimmy knew instantly that Goddard understood his situation. With a long sigh, and a deep breath Jimmy looked up at her. Cindy flinched. He was so pale... so fragile... She had never seen him like that before.

It was almost... scary.

"Sorry, Vortex." he grumbled. "I-uh, gotta blast. Hey, Nick."

Nick blinked and muttered a return greeting just as Jimmy pushed past the two of them. Standing outside, Jimmy asked Goddard to take Fly-Cycle mode, and took off into the sky. Ignoring the burning stares of Cindy and Nick.

* * *

Jimmy packed away a dozen or so different tools and gadgets into his spare Hyper-Cube, and then headed to his room to pack away some clothes. He did it in such a cold silence that Goddard was at a loss for words. Only when Jimmy had begun to climb into the Strato XL rocket did Goddard finally find his voice.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Jimmy shrugged. "Away. Just for a little while." he said, calmly. "May I join you?" Goddard asked. 'To make sure you don't do anything stupid.' were the words that Goddard left unspoken in his question. He had seen Jimmy like this twice before. Jimmy didn't remember the first time himself but Goddard certainly did.

It hadn't been pretty.

Jimmy simply shrugged in response. So Goddard jumped gracefully into the back seat of the rocket, and the two of them took off into the sky.

* * *

Cindy had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, as she talked casually with Libby and Elke. The boys were surprisingly silent. Nick joined the conversation after a few seconds, but Carl and Sheen remained uncharacteristically quiet. That bad feeling continued to sink.

All of a sudden, out of the corner of here eye, she could see the faintest tuft of smoke, trailing into the sky. Jimmy's rocket. She just knew. Biting her bottom lip, she frowned.

_'Jimmy... please be alright...'_ she thought to herself. She quickly kicked herself. _'No... not Jimmy anymore. Just... Neutron...'_

Somehow, just thinking that made her feel empty inside. She glanced over at Nick, who was talking animatedly about his newest hair care product. She tried to feel the sense of relief, of comfort, that Nick usually gave her. But... it wasn't there.

_Something was seriously wrong._

* * *

_The rocket started to rattle uncontrollably, as Jimmy and Goddard plummeted into the atmosphere of an alien planet. Jimmy looked at all of the dials, the radar- he pressed buttons and jiggled the steering wheel but- nothing. It was a tractor beam, pulling them further and further- and faster and faster- into the surface of the planet._

_Jimmy felt a tired grin creep up on his face._

_"Well, Goddard... My end is finally here..." he muttered. As the broke through the atmosphere, Goddard lifted his head out of the rocket, fighting against the wind speed that was hitting them mercilessly. Opening his mouth, he inched further and further- finally biting down on the back of Jimmy's collar. With that, Goddard pushed against the springs in his leg and launched himself up and out of the crashing rocket._

_Only, instead of holding Jimmy safely in his large robotic jaws, he was only holding a shred of red fabric. Goddard realized a split second too late- and watched the rocket smash into the sand and rock on the surface of the planet, flipping up and over a dozen or so times before coming to a stop, upside down._

_For a moment, Goddard forgot to keep his ears whirling to keep himself in the air._

_At that moment, Goddard, Cindy, Sheen and Carl had the same thought at exactly the same time._

_'Jimmy...'_

* * *

_**To be** **continued...**_

* * *

**(AN: First off, I would like to mention that this chapter, and the next one which will be the 'finale' is dedicated to the four lovely people that were kind enough to not only leave a review for me, but to also ask me to 'keep on truckin' as it were. Thanks you guys. Hopefully, you know who you are. Also... *SPOILER ALERT* Just so you know, this story isn't in the 'Tragedy' genre for a reason. Just sayin' is all...)**


	3. Part Three

The last thing that Jimmy could remember was crashing into the surface of an alien planet. He could see an image of Goddard doing all that he could to save him- but it was too late. The surface of the planet was coated in a sea of grey sand, consisting of trillions of tiny crystal particles. It was like landing in a pile of powdered glass. It had managed to cushion the crash at the very least, preventing the Strato XL's power source from being penetrated by any of the surrounding metal- therefore narrowly avoiding a potential explosion.

But the dust had also been displaced by the hit, floating all around Jimmy's body. He had already taken a few unfortunate breaths, unknowingly inhaling a few handfuls of dust already. It sent waves of pain down into his lungs and across the rest of his body that felt like his insides had been sent on fire. He did his best to keep conscious for the next few minutes. Soon enough, he could see the blurred form of his robotic friend Goddard flying slowly towards him.

Jimmy smiled, and then- darkness took over.

* * *

Judy Neutron gingerly placed a hand on her stomach. The doctor gave her a few more seconds to process the information, and then flashed her a friendly smile. "Congratulations, Mrs Neutron. You're going to be a mother again." he said. Judy met his gaze with a blank expression. For a few awkward seconds, the doctor wondered if maybe this wasn't such good news.

Then, Judy let out the loudest high pitched squeal that he had ever heard. "Oh, goodness! I can't believe it!" she practically bellowed.

After about twenty minutes of further discussion with her doctor, she left the office feeling as happy as she had ever been. Jimmy was going to have a sibling... Her Hugh-bie was going to be a father to another child. And she was going to be a mother again. She drove home filled with an indescribable excitement.

When she and Hugh had first started trying to have a child, they had told her that there was less than a 1% chance of that happening. Jimmy had been their miracle. In more ways than one. And now, they were about to blessed again. She felt like yelling out of the window at complete strangers.

She was pregnant. Another Neutron was going to be coming into the world.

She couldn't think of anything better in the world.

* * *

Jimmy's eyes opened very slowly. It took a while for him to register everything. First of all- it would appear that he was still alive. He couldn't tell if this was good news or not. His body felt numb. This meant that he had likely been given a drug of some sort to alleviate the pain. And it wasn't a typical Earth pain killer either, because his mind felt completely unaffected. The room felt distinctly alien. There were no corners on the ceiling, and he guessed the same would be true of the floor. The decorations strewn across the ceiling were enough to give him a vague idea of where he was.

It was an alien language. Black- consisting of black circles and cylinders mashed together to create a variety of different symbols. Something about it reminded him of the Irken language. He dismissed the idea quickly though. Not only were the symbols too preoccupied with forms of circles and ovals to be Irken, but that species only existed in another universe.

At least, as far as he knew. And... hoped.

Suddenly, the familiar 'whooshing' sound of a door opening threw him out of his line of thought. Turning his head around slowly and carefully- he found himself staring into the giant eyeball of a Brain Stem alien. A species that, physically- looked like a giant brain standing on its stem- with a single giant eye on the front of it. Not one of the more charming looking aliens in the world- but at least most of the members of the Brain Stems were his allies.

"Well, I expect that you will have been completely recovered in the next few Earth-minutes." The Brain Stem chortled. Then, it pushed its eye uncomfortably close to Jimmy's face. "You are feeling better, no?" it asked. Jimmy nodded, and the Brain Stem seemed satisfied. "Ah- Is very good then. You are very lucky that we found you when we did-" the Brain Stem suddenly cut itself off. "Oh, very nice! Your owner has arrived!" it exclaimed.

Jimmy opened his mouth to ask what it meant, but the Brain Stem had already left the room. All of a sudden, Jimmy could feel his body again. No pain. His muscles felt refreshed, and even the little pains he had in his back and his legs were gone. He stretched, and let out a long sigh of relief. It felt as if his body had just caught up on all of the rest it had been missing lately.

Now, if only the same thing could be said for his mind.

Still feeling a little bit hazy, he climbed off of the strange green table and stood himself up. With another 'whoosh' the door in front of him opened up again, this time revealing the form of a particularly stoic April the Gorlock. Her florescent green skin seemed to shine underneath the light, highlighting a complete lack of imperfection. She was dressed in a thick black leather battle suit, with a row of sharp silver spikes running down the back and the front in a 'V' formation. She wasn't wearing a helmet this time, which meant that he could see all of her messy black hair- as well as the small white horns curling out of her forehead.

"April?" Jimmy asked after a short pause. "What are you doing here?"

April crossed her arms and growled. "You will follow me, NOW. Jimmy Neutron." she ordered. Jimmy blinked. "Oh, okay- where's Goddard?" he asked.

"The dog is already on board. Now- March!" April bellowed. Jimmy let out a loud gulp- and followed April down the alien hallway until they were outside of the building. Underneath a giant dome, were a fleet of space craft of different sizes and shapes. After a long walk, Jimmy found himself standing in front of a massive space-craft. It looked a little like a combination of a truck and a tank. Complete with a massive cannon sticking out of the front, and plated with massive chunks of steel- made from what looked like tons of different scrap pieces crudely fused together. April ushered Jimmy inside- and after a few minutes of navigated the maze of hallways inside the ship- they eventually made it to April's private quarters.

There, Jimmy saw a familiar face waiting for him.

"Goddard!" Jimmy yelled, happily. "Bark! Bark!" said Goddard in return, only a few seconds before pouncing him and licking his face happily. "Ah- haha! Ha- Down boy! Down!" Jimmy chuckled.

April crossed her arms, and smiled. "Well, well. James Isaac Neutron. It is lovely to see you again, my friend." she said, her voice considerably softer than it had been a few minutes ago. She chuckled when Jimmy looked at her with a confused look on his face. "Now, Jimmy. A Gorlockian warrior must be in absolute authority amongst other species." she said. Jimmy stood himself up, and gave Goddard another pat on the head.

"It's nice to see you again too, April. How did you find us?" asked Jimmy. April flushed purple on her cheeks. "Well... I got a call from the Brain Stem embassy..." she trailed off, muttered something incoherent. Before Jimmy could ask why the Brain Stem people had contacted a warrior princess about a newly-found human- she had started to speak again.

"Do you remember the honorary Gorlockian tattoo I gave you for your birthday?" she asked. Jimmy nodded. "Well... I was exaggerating a little when I said that the words meant 'Hero to All'... Um... It... It _might_ have said something like... _'Hello! My name is Neutron! I'm lost... please contact April the Gorlock at co-ordinates #3067-5948 Section Ex_" she explained.

Jimmy frowned. "Really?"

April avoided making eye contact with him. "Um-... yes. But- at least it paid off, huh?"

Jimmy frowned at her, leaving the room filled with an awkward silence. For a second, April began to think that maybe Jimmy was extremely angry at her. Maybe it insulted him to think that she needed to keep track of him like that. It was an insult to him as a warrior... but she hadn't meant it like that... she knew better than most how incredible this little human boy really was-

She snapped out of her train of thoughts when she saw Jimmy start to smile. "Thanks, April." he said. The sincerity in his voice made her return his smile. "You are very welcome, Jimmy. Now- would you like me to take you back to your planet now?" she asked. Jimmy's smile faltered.

"Earth..." he muttered to himself. "I... I don't know April. I crashed my rocket on my way-" suddenly, Jimmy stopped himself mid-sentence. "Wait a second... April- Do you have the wreckage my rocket here?" he asked. "Yes, of course. I had my below-lings scavenge as much of it as they could find." said April. "Jimmy- what's the matter?"

"I... I didn't crash. Something pulled me into the planet. A tractor beam of some kind- something powerful enough to burn through all of the controls, rendering them useless..." Jimmy trailed off again, deep in thought. "Do you have any idea what-"

Jimmy was cut off again. This time though, it was because the entire room seemed to lurch forward all of a sudden. Goddard let out a high pitched whine. "Uh-oh..." April muttered.

"We're moving..."

* * *

"WAAAAAH! SHE- SHE- SHEEEEE'SS GOOOO-OOOO-OOOONNEE!" sobbed Carl. Sheen twitched. "CAR-EL! ENOUGH! She's been gone for like thirty seconds!" he yelled. At this point, the people in the airport had begun to stop and stare at the pair of teenagers that had managed to make more noise than the incoming aeroplanes. They of course- did not notice.

"But! But! SHE'S GOOOOONNNEE!" Carl screamed. "And- And what she doesn't come back! And-" Carl was cut off once again by Sheen. "CARL! I CAN'T HEAR THE OUTGOING ANNOUNCEMENTS!" he yelled.

"DON'T YELL AT ME!"

"DON'T YELL AT ME FOR YELLING AT YOU!"

"D-DON'T YELL AT ME FOR YELLING AT YOU FOR YELLING AT ME!"

"CAR-EL!"

"WAAAAAHHH!"

Sheen turned away from his crying friend to look up at the massive screen that showed the arrival times and departure times. He scanned the screen up and down for a good minute or so, before breaking out into hysterical laughter. "HA! LOOK! There's a plane going to a place called Turkey!" he yelled.

"WAAA- There's a place called Turkey?" asked Carl. "Yeah! Look! Up on the screen over there!" Sheen said as he pointed to some vague part of the giant screen in front of them. "Hey! I see it! I see it! Mmmm- Turkey..." said Carl. "I'm allergic to Turkey but I heard it smells _heavenly_." he explained. Sheen raised a non-existent eyebrow. "You've never had Turkey before? Then what do you eat at Thanksgiving?" he asked. "Oh! Well, my mom makes this awesome turkey out of Flan!" said Carl.

"Flan? What the heck is Flan?" asked Sheen. "It's this awesome stuff- that my- my mom does stuff with... huh... I guess I don't really know what it is..." said Carl. "You've been eating stuff and you don't even know what it is! What if it's poison?" Sheen asked. "Mom wouldn't want to poison me..." Carl muttered, seemingly unsure of himself. "Yeah- sure, but what if she gets swapped for a robot counterpart like Ultralord Movie 4?" he asked.

Carl stopped to think for a second.

"Yeah! And-" Sheen was cut off from what was likely going to be a long and traumatising speech about the evils of robotic counterparts when he was cut off by a large airport security guard. "Hey, kid! Are you Sheen Estevez?" the man demanded. "Yeah! Who wants to know!" Sheen demanded. The security guard showed the both of them a picture of Sheen with a large silly grin on his face. Underneath it in bold letters were the words 'Banned from Retroville Airport for indecent exposure.'

Sheen opened his mouth to say something- only to find himself being unceremoniously thrown out of the airport doorway. Carl soon followed him. "OW! This is discrimination! I never exposed myself indecent-ally! You'll hear from my lawyers!" he yelled. The security guard ignored him.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the two of them stood up and brushed themselves off. This wasn't the first time they had literally been thrown out of the place. In fact- it was more like the... eleventh.

Carl and Sheen had an even more awkward experience a few hours ago during their 'triple date' with Elke, Libby, Cindy and Nick. Seeing Jimmy like that... it made both of them sadder than either of them knew possible. Jimmy, for his part- seemed fine with seeing Cindy and Nick together. And he had reacted to the whole 'triple date' thing as if it hadn't bothered him in the least.

This was what worried them. It would have been okay if he yelled, or even if he got so angry that he turned into that giant orange thingy again- but he didn't.

"He's getting worse, huh?" Carl's voice broke the silence between them with a whimper. He sounded even sadder than he had been when he watched Elke board her plane back home just a few seconds ago. Sheen nodded. "It sure looks like it. I haven't seen him so beaten up since... well- forever."

They began making their way back home from the airport very slowly. The 'triple date' hadn't been quite as bad as they thought it might have, but it was still uncomfortable. Neither of them were particularly good at talking to Cindy Vortex. Carl, especially. He had been afraid of Cindy ever since he had first met her. And Sheen couldn't help but see her as a human version of 'The Lady of Despair' from Ultralord episode thirty sixty-seven.

It wasn't about holding a grudge against her for years of bullying- after all, the only times she ever picked on them was either because Jimmy wasn't around or they were standing anywhere close to him at the time. It was a little bit complicated than that. Neither of them had a way to describe it beyond 'weird'. Maybe that was the best word for it.

Still, there were times when it was easier than others. Usually it was whenever she stopped trying to be a mature adult and simply let herself be a kid. Unfortunately, those times were rare. Especially lately.

"It was different this time, wasn't it? When Jimmy saw her and Nick... I mean- doesn't he usually go like, 'Well, well- if it isn't Mister and Missus DEAN!'" Sheen yelled, doing his best to imitate Jimmy's cocky smile. "Yeah, and then she's like- 'Oh, don't you think it's embarrassing to show your jealousy out in the open like that? Or don't you have the ability to feel shame in that big head of yours?"' Carl countered, in his best imitation of Cindy, putting his hands of his hips for emphasis.

Carl and Sheen broke out into uproarious laughter for a few minutes, but eventually settled down.

"What happened to that, Sheen? I mean... One day it just seemed like Jimmy stopped playing... huh?" asked Carl. Sheen nodded. "Yeah... and then after that time Jimmy tried to get rid of his- uh- feeling? Emotions? Yeah- Afterwards... y'know?" asked Sheen. This time, Carl nodded. He adjusted his glasses, and frowned.

"Are... are we bad friends?" he asked, in a voice so quiet that Sheen almost didn't hear him. "Naw, Carl. I mean- it's like... Jimmy's been having a lot of trouble lately. But we've never had this problem before, y'know? Usually- with Cindy... he either denies that whole 'lurve' thing- or he gets into a big fight with her. And I mean, even if he does try to ignore it- It always ends with that fight. Then they're friends again." explained Sheen.

"Yeah... I've never seen him give up like this before..." Carl muttered.

The two of them continued to walk in an awkward silence. The both of them were simply at a complete loss at how to help their best friend. Usually if they had a problem, they would ask Jimmy what to do. So what were they supposed to do when it was Jimmy who had the problem?

"Whoa, Carl- Check it out!" yelled Sheen. Carl jumped. Turning around, he found that they were both standing in front of Jimmy's house. Carl and Sheen shared a confused glance. The Airport was all the way on the outskirts of town. Yet somehow... they had made it all the way to Jimmy's house without even noticing.

Maybe this was because of that thing that Jimmy had once mentioned to them. Their sub-con... something. Yeah. That's it.

"Let's... Let's go inside, okay Carl?" asked Sheen. Sheen didn't wait for Carl to respond, and was already at the door by the time Carl had realized that he was already gone. "Hey! Wait up Shee-eeen!" he yelled. Carl and Sheen entered the house without knocking- they had long since been told that they were always welcome inside the Neutron house, which they took to mean that the refrigerator was also fair game. Of course, neither of Jimmy's parents minded this one bit.

Before making their way up stairs and into Jimmy's room, they heard the familiar sound of womanly sobbing escaping the living room. Quickly the two of them peeking into the other room, just in time to see a crying Hugh Neutron being help in the arms of his wife.

"Whoa! Mister and Missus Neutron- what happened?" Sheen blurted out at the top of his voice.

Hugh and Judy looked up from the couch, and both of them shared a serene smile. "Oh, Jim-jams pals... I was just cryin' with happiness!" Hugh announced, happily. Carl and Sheen stepped into the living room, still wearing the same curious look. "Tears of happiness? Does that even work?" asked Carl. Hugh opened his mouth to say something- only to be quickly cut off by Sheen. "Of course, Carl! Like that time I found out that they were releasing Ultralord the Movie in 3D! Remember? I cried for like, a month." Sheen exclaimed.

Hugh shook his head. "No-no... this isn't about your Ultralord." Hugh explained. Sheen looked devastated, but allowed Hugh to continue. "We've just gotten some very good news, haven't we dear?" Hugh asked, as he looked up at his wife. Judy nodded and smiled. "That's right... I just found out that... well... Jimmy is going to have a brother or a sister soon." she said. She rubbed her stomach and beamed up at her husband. Saying it out loud made it sound even more real. Even more incredible.

Carl twitched. "Y-you mean that you're pregnant?" he asked. "Well sure, Carl- that's how it works and all." Hugh explained. Carl stood silent for a second, and then sent a withering glare at Hugh. "I see..." he muttered.

Both Hugh and Judy remained completely ignorant to Carl and continued to make name suggestions for their new bundle of joy. Sheen cleared his throat. "Hey, do you guys know where Jimmy is?" he asked. The question appeared to catch the Neutrons off guard.

"Oh- I think he's in his lab. Do me a favour will you? Don't tell Jimmy just yet... I want it to be a surprise." said Judy. Sheen nodded, and started to drag the still glaring Carl out of the living room. "You may have one this round, but I'll get you, Neutron!" Carl yelled, shaking his fist like an old timey villain.

As usual, Hugh and Judy remained completely ignorant to their son's friends ranting. Of course, usually it was Sheens ranting that they wouldn't pay any attention too- but still. It was pretty much the same.

* * *

April, Jimmy and Goddard raced down the hallways, doing their best not to be knocked backwards by the awkward lurches in the ship. April was doing her best to slow down just enough for Jimmy to be able to follow her, but it wasn't easy. All of a sudden, the emergency alarms began to let out a powerful screech. Behind Jimmy and Goddard, giant metal doors began to seal of each and every sector. Finally, they reached the control room. April opened the door and leapt inside into the darkness. But just as Jimmy reached his arm out to grab the door, a massive steel wall sprung out of the floor just in front of the doorway. Jimmy pulled back his arm just in time to spare it a bad bruise- or perhaps even a removal. He looked back, and sure enough there was a steel wall a few meters away.

He was trapped.

"AR-HAHAHAHA_HA_!" an all too familiar laugh ran through the air. A heavy figure suddenly lurched out of the ceiling, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. The creature stood tall, brandishing a pair of big, scary weapons. "Well, well. So we meet again, dear jelly sack."

The Junkman's yellow eyes seemed to glow in the dull red light caused by the still screeching security system. His towering figure was still as frightening as ever. His dark green skin was covered with thousands of small black scales, the tendril locks that made his hair were about twenty centimetres longer, and his odour had... not improved.

"What are you doing here, Junkman! You and your friends are supposed to be in the late crustaceous era!" yelled Jimmy. Goddard barked loudly in agreement.

"Well, Mr Neutron. My _friends_," he spat that word out like it was dirty. "And I have long since escaped your little time trap! Surely you have noticed. Calamitous has no doubt already made his appearance known- And I doubt that the snobby human took much longer to show up either. The rest of us have simply been... waiting." The Junkman explained. "In fact- we have a wager on to see who will destroy you first."

"Get a life, loser!" Jimmy yelled. "Don't you people have something better to do other than bothering _me _all the time?"

The Junkman shrugged. "No. I don't suppose I do." he said. With that he aimed one of the weapons at Goddard and fired it. Before Jimmy could so much as blink- Goddard was launched back into the steel wall behind him. A long stream of purple and red arched out of the weapon and into Goddard. The beam let out an ear splitting screech, as Goddard slowly began to melt into the wall. The Junkman smiled, and let go of the trigger.

Jimmy couldn't hear the sirens anymore. All of his senses seemed to dull, as he watched the lights that made Goddard's eye's flicker and finally- die.

Faster than Jimmy knew that he was even capable of- Jimmy aimed his watch at the Junkman's arms and pressed a small red button. In an instant and with a small 'thud' Jimmy's watch laser cut straight through the Junkman's weapon- and his arm. With a painful howl, the Junkman pulled the trigger on his second weapon. A wave of electricity shot through Jimmy's entire body, rendering him unconscious.

The Junkman smiled. Ignoring the pain stemming from where his top right arm used to be, he pulled a small silver helmet out of his backpack. The Junkman walked towards Jimmy slowly, enjoying every second. Now. Finally. It was the end for Jimmy Neutron.

* * *

Jimmy's eyes opened with a jolt.

"Welcome back, to the land of the living, Jimmy." Cindy whispered. She stroked his hair, gently. It took Jimmy a few seconds to process what exactly was going on. "Cindy? What-" he sputtered. He looked up into Cindy's smiled face. Her blonde hair was a little bit messy- a few strands of it hanging over the front of her face.

_'So... pretty.._.' Jimmy could feel his thought process begin to slow to a halt. Her emerald green eyes were sparkling in the sunset. Jimmy felt his entire body go limp. _'Heaven...'_

Then, realisation hit him. He was lying down in Cindy's lap. There was a beautiful pink flower tucked behind her ear, and the sound of the ocean splashing lazily against the shore filled the air.

"No.. this.." he muttered to himself. He sat up quickly, ignoring Cindy's surprised yelp. He looked around. Sure enough- he was on the island. Their island. The place that he dreamt about almost every night. The place that everything he felt for her was fully confirmed. Their paradise.

"This... this can't be real... the Junkman was- and Goddard- Goddard!" He glanced at his wrist, but he couldn't see his watch. "Pukin' plutonium... What happened to my wristwatch?" he muttered to himself.

"Jimmy? Is there something the matter?" asked Cindy behind him. Jimmy had to muster up everything he could to stop his legs from buckling under at the sound of her voice. He was glad that he wasn't facing her anymore- because that voice usually meant an even cuter face. And that would-... Well, it might even be enough to make him black out.

"I'm sorry Cindy- I don't know what's going on here, but I have to get back! Goddard's in trouble, and-" he sputtered, only to be cut off by a deep, gravelly voice.

**"You believe yourself to have that option?" **it growled. Jimmy's eyes widened. Turning around, he could see that Cindy had stood herself up. Her long blond hair was covering her face. **"Forever, you have tried to run from me- Jimmy Neutron. But you have yet to escape. Do you not understand?"** the voice was coming out of Cindy's mouth. Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Cindy looked up into Jimmy's eyes. Her own emerald green eyes were gone. Replaced with pools of deep black.

**"You have, and always will be- my prisoner."**

The skies began to darken, and all of the beauty around him seemed to have been sucked out- leaving nothing but black and grey. "This... what is this?" asked Jimmy. Cindy seemed amused by his question.

**"Hell. Well- more accurately... your own personal slice of it."** Cindy explained, still wearing an amused smile. **"This is the most important part of your story." she explained. "Now... let us see just how sad we may make it..." **With that, she leapt forward and put her hand on his forehead. Almost immediately, Jimmy could feel every fibre of his being scream in pain. And then, fragments of memories began to play themselves in front of his eyes.

_'Mom looks at me with such sad eyes. She says the one thing that I have always been scared of hearing. "Why... can't you be... normal?"'_

**"You have caused immeasurable pain to every living creature around you. All of them. Your city has been damaged beyond repair by your incompetence. And by the enemies that you have brought to this once peaceful place. The Yolkians. Calamitous. Junkman. Eustace Strych. Evils that you have not only allowed to exist... you have played with them. Mocked them. Encouraged them to grow more powerful. Less scrupulous. How long will it be until they finally reduce everything to nothing?"**

_'Dad wipes the tears out of his eyes with his shirt. He stands in the middle of his precious duck collection- all of which are in tatters. "How could you, Jimmy?"'_

**"You have created more evils than you could ever hope to fend off. How long will it be until your clone returns to exact his vengeance upon his creator? And the hundreds of robots, and gadgets that you have created... Did you ever wonder why they all seem to turn on you? Why these machines all seem to gain a mind of their own- and with it, try to destroy everything around you? You infect them. With your selfishness. Your ego. You have polluted so many minds... Will it ever be enough? How many will you drive insane until you realise the truth?"**

_'Sheen looks sad. I try to ask him why- but he avoids me. Finally, one day he tells me. His mother died. He asks me to go back. To time travel into the past and stop it from happening. To find a way to bring her back. Anything. I tell him that I can't. There is nothing I can do for him. He thinks that I'm lying. "I HATE YOU JIMMY NEUTRON!"'_

**"Another failure. You work for hours. You work your fingers to the bone- all too often quite literally. And your inventions... do not work. No matter what you do. No matter how much you might need them too, everything you touch eventually fizzles out or breaks. Has there ever been a time that you managed to beat your incredible ego and finally give up on something? No. Of course not. You work** **yourself into insanity. Into death. All because you cannot accept your defeat. Your crippling, unrelenting defeat."**

_'He's bleeding. I try my best to stop it. Carl begins to wheeze and cough. He can't cry anymore. He might die. It was the first bad lab explosion I had ever had. Carl was caught in the middle of it. It's bad. I managed to heal him. There aren't any scars. No bruises. Except for the mental ones.'_

**"You need to accept the truth. You are pathetic. A miserable little boy. You have asked yourself countless times- Why do they not like me? Why do they reject me? When in the end, you have always known the truth. It is because you are a freak."**

_'Libby's hand lands across my face with all of the power she can muster. "Your..." she can't contain her sobs. "You're such an idiot!" she yells. "It's your fault that he's gone! Sheen disappeared out of your lab! With one of those stupid, damn, rockets of yours! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!"'_

**"You need to die. To end the sadness that you have wrought onto those you claim to love, you must indulge in one last selfish act. You need to run away from them... forever."**

_'I smile at the class. I had just moved to Retroville, and I wasn't sure I was going to like it. Still- I had to give it a try. After all, a proper education was one of the most important aspects to life there were. I sit down next to a boy with red hair and glasses. He seems nice. After the exam is done, the teacher looks surprised. "Oh, look! It seems we have a little genius in our midst!" she announces. I see the girl sitting in front of the teacher's desk sit up straight. She is beaming. She looks so... happy. _

_The teacher gives me my test sheet, and leads the class into a round of applause. 'A +++' is scrawled across the top of the sheet. I smile. And then, I notice something. The girl at the front sinks in her seat. I think that she's crying. I want to ask her what's wrong... Only later I realize that she used to be the smartest person in that class. She had studied very hard for that test._

_But... it was so easy...'_

"Are you ready, Jimmy Neutron?"

Jimmy nodded, slowly. Cindy smiled. It had taken longer than she had expected- but he was finally broken. She draws a blade from her hip- raising it over his skull.

"BARK! BARK!"

Cindy turned around just in time to be knocked off of her feet by a large, scruffy dog. Jimmy blinks. The dogs fur is silver... and its eye are a dull yellow. Somehow.. it looks familiar.

"Do not listen to her, master!" the dog bellowed. Jimmy did a double take. "Goddard?" he asked, incredulously. The dog grinned. "Yes, that's right! Or, more accurately- a mental projection of Goddard." the dog happily explained. "Your subconscious is currently under attack by a particularly nasty piece of alien technology."

"I-is that so?" Jimmy stuttered.

Goddard's big silver tail wagged furiously. "That is correct! Your brain has suffered some heavy mental damage from the attacks so far- most of only seemed to have damage your psyche. Allow me to repair the damage before you wake up."

**"Do you really think you can defeat the truth, dog?"** Cindy asked, as she stood herself up.

"I am merely a mental projection of the real truths that Jimmy already knows. You have manipulated his human tendency to only remember pain and sadness, and to allow himself to believe that he is at fault. But none of that can be considered 'the truth'." Goddard explained. "The day after his mother expressed her wish that he were normal, she told him that she regretted what she had said. She had spoken out of anger and nothing else. She loves her special boy."

"After accidentally breaking his father's duck collection, Jimmy makes a tearful apology. His father embraces him, telling him that accidents happened. He knows that his son would never break what was precious to him on purpose."

"Sheen apologises to Jimmy the day after his tearful expression of hate. He doesn't hate Jimmy. He is just overcome with grief. He loved his mother- but there is nothing that anybody could have done. As he reveals, she didn't die recently. She died giving birth to him. He had only found out the day before."

"Carl is healed completely by Jimmy. He had accidentally caused the explosion, with a small purple flurp spill. He tells Jimmy that he is glad that he was the only one that got hurt. And Jimmy lectures him on proper lab etiquette. Then, he smiles. And the two of them have a milkshake at the Candy Bar."

"Libby acknowledges that it was Sheens own fault that he found himself lost on the planet Zeenu. She apologises to Jimmy. And together, they find a letter from Sheen floating out in space."

Goddard glanced over at Jimmy and grinned.

"Cindy Vortex falls in love with the first boy that she could ever consider an intellectual rival."

Everything around them begins to twist and turn, as the black eyed Cindy lets out a low growl. **"Impressive. My programming is telling me to retreat- lest I be destroyed by your minds substantial power... It seems a shame, Jimmy Neutron. You are an interesting speci-**

* * *

Jimmy opened his eyes with a jolt.

This time, he was lying on the cold steel floor of Aprils Gorlockian ship. The device that had been attached to Jimmy's head began to spark and sizzle. Jimmy felt along the wires of the device, tracing them along to a pair of needles in his temple. Jimmy grit his teeth, and slowly pulled out each one. Finally, he removed the device from the top of his head.

It certainly looked alien enough. And scrawled across it in plain English, were the words 'Brain-Scrubber'. Jimmy flinched. What a truly disturbing piece of technology... Suddenly, the sound of melting metal began to fill the air. Then, very slowly, everything else started to come back. He could feel the heat again. Then, he began to breath. His sight began to focus, and just as it did- he looked up just in time to see the Junkman using the weapon he had used on Goddard before, to cut around the part of Goddard that was melted into the steel wall.

Grumbling to himself, the Junkman pulled out the giant circle and threw it carelessly behind him. "I'll come back to grab you later, lamp-dog." he growled. With that, the Junkman pried open the door to the control room and took a step inside. "Now, Beautiful Gorgeous- have you taken care of the female Gorlock? Hm?" the Junkmans voice trailed out from inside the control room.

"Wait! Wha- AAAAAHHHH!"

Jimmy lurches forward. That was... the Junkman screaming just now. So that meant...

April poked her head out of the door. "Are you okay, Jimmy?" she asked. Jimmy nodded. "Uh- what was that?" he asked. April blushed. "Well... let's just say that... that guy had just as many limbs as he had orifices. I simply took advantage of that is all." she explained.

"Whoa! I didn't need to hear that!" Jimmy sputtered.

"What? He's still alive! Just.. You know... a little uncomfortable."

Jimmy sighed. "Hey, April? Can you take me home? I need to get to my lab and fix Goddard..." he trailed off. April nodded. "Sure! Let's blast, shall we?"

Jimmy grinned. "Yeah."

* * *

By the time Jimmy finally made it back home, he was practically tackled by his mother on the front lawn. She told him the good news, and for the first time in a while- Jimmy really smiled. Inside the house, Jimmy introduced his parents to April, and ate some celebratory cookies with Carl and Sheen. After a while, April took her leave.

"I shall see you later Jimmy." April said, "And I apologise again for what happened on my ship. Curse-ed stowaways... I shall drop them off in the Gorlockian Maximum Security Prison on my way home!"

Jimmy nodded. "Oh! Can you please put Goddard and whatever is left of my rocket... just on the lawn in front of my lab, please?" he asked. April nodded, and waved him a final goodbye. Jimmy closed the door behind him, and walked into the kitchen where he found Carl and Sheen happily eating an eighth serving of gingerbread men. "Hey guys. I'm just going to talk to Cindy for a while, okay?"

"Okay, Jimmy- wait, what?"

Jimmy ignored the shocked looks from his friends, and made his way out the back door, around the house and across the road. And there he stood. Jimmy felt a familiar rush of nervousness run through his veins, but he shook it off. He had to do this. Raising his hand to the doorbell, he had to practically beg it to stop shaking long enough to press the buzzer.

"Cindy- can you get that, honey?" came the voice of Cindy's mother from inside. "Sure, Mom."

Jimmy gulped. This was it...

The door opened slowly, revealing the form of Cynthia Aurora Vortex. Jimmy begged his face not to blush, or let the big stupid grin take over before he said what he needed to say.

Cindy for her part looked surprised. "Neutron! What're you doing here?" she asked. Jimmy saw her start to put her hand on her hips, so he knew he had to act fast. Hands on hips usually equalled yelling or glaring. That was one thing Jimmy knew very well about her.

"Hi Cindy!" he greeted. She was immediately caught off guard by his happy greeting. Good. "Um, I just had another adventure today. A kind of small one I guess- but... I almost died more than once." Jimmy laughed nervously. Cindy bit her bottom lip and frowned. Jimmy gulped. "Um- April was involved," he kept talking straight past what was going to be her angry retort. "So was the Junkman. He put something on my head- it was a computer of sorts. With software made especially for breaching the psyche and allowing complete control of an organism." he explained quickly. When he had explained it to Carl and Sheen, he had to speak a lot slower and finally just use an Ultralord episode as an example. With Cindy... he knew that she could keep up.

"Anyway, I managed to beat it- but only because of Goddard. I sort of... well, in my mind he had always been there for me, you know? So when I was in trouble, in a way, Goddard came to my rescue and-" Jimmy was suddenly cut off. "Does your rambling eventually come to a point here, Neutron?" she demanded, angrily.

Jimmy flinched and nodded. "Um- I've been depressed lately. Goddards been helping me through it, because I've been too weak to handle it myself. And then on the way back home- I think I finally realised something. I think I'm plenty strong. And what helps me be strong is asking my friends for their help. When I pushed my friend's away like I have been- I'm left weak." he explained.

Cindy's eyes softened and then hardened. She wasn't going to make this easy... Oh, well.

"Okay- look, I came here to tell you th-that... Well, my feelings for you are even stronger now. A lot stronger. And I've been trying to figure out a way that we might share a real healthy relationship, but with the way I am, I haven't been able to see a way. I tried to give up, and it practically almost killed me. Goddard helped me through that too and- and..." Jimmy could feel tears welling up in his eyes. 'Damn it- not now. Stop it! I've got something else I need to ask!' he silently berated himself. After a few seconds of deep breaths he continued.

"I... Goddard was almost destroyed this afternoon. With the Junkman thing- he used something and-and most of him is melted and twisted up... I want to save him but I... I need... I need you." he said. He took another deep breath, and looked into her glistening emerald green eyes.

"I need your help, Cindy."

Cindy blinked. Her face seemed calm, and collected. For a second, Jimmy felt his heart drop. Then, Cindy opened the door and stuck her head inside. "Hey, Libby! I'm going to go hand out at Jimmy's lab for a while, okay!" she yelled. From somewhere inside, Jimmy could just make out Libby's response.

"Sure, girl- wait, what!"

With that, Cindy closed the door and smiled. "Okay, Jimmy. Let's get to work, shall we?" she asked.

Jimmy returned her smile tenfold.

"Yeah..."

"So, what has the Green Girl been up too?"

"She's alright. I think. She said she's got some studying to do for her next upgrade in Gladiator School."

"Gladiator School?"

"Yeah, it's a Gorlock thing."

"Right. And how are your parents?"

"Oh! Guess what!"

"What?"

"I'm going to have a little brother or sister!"

"Wow! Really! That's awesome! Congratulations, Jimmy!"

"Yeah, she's been making cookies for Carl and Sheen all day to celebrate."

"Mmm, your mom makes really good cookies..."

"You think so too, huh?"

"Well, obviously! I have taste buds, don't I?"

Jimmy and Cindy continued to talk, even as they moved Goddard and the remnants of the Strato XL into the lab. And together, the two of them worked, talked and laughed all through the night. And by the morning...

Goddard was born again.

* * *

THE END

* * *

_**(AN: Okay- done! I want to thank everybody who took the time to read this, and give a giant thank you to the people that were kind enough to review this story. I hope anyone else that finds this by chance, will be kind enough to send another review my way. I'd appreciate a whole bunch. Anywho- one last note before I finish bothering you guys with this Authors Note. I'm thinking about adding an epilogue that would connect this story to a bigger crossover project that I have had in my brain for a few years now. If you think I should go ahead and do it, tell me. If you think this is better stand alone, I'd understand. Just tell me. Once again, I saw- review!)**_

_**R&R**_


	4. Epilogue

Jimmy sat up at his work bench with a satisfied smile. Glancing behind himself, his smile of satisfaction quickly formed into one of amusement. Carl was sleeping on the floor, amongst massive piles of brown and white cotton. Sheen was sleeping under a table at the other end of the room, covered with purple paint and dozens of googly eyes. On top of the table, standing triumphantly was Sheens favourite Ultralord action figure. Jimmy looked over his own work again, and let out a low sigh.

They had all been asked by the mayor of Retroville to help supply floats for the annual Retroville parade. And even with the help of time altering devices and an almost infinite amount of materials thanks to Jimmy's cloning machines, they were still only on the planning stages. Through the morning, afternoon and most of the night, Sheen, Carl and Jimmy had been working hard on small scale designs for their own special floats. Cindy and Libby meanwhile, had opted to work at Cindy's house sue to a lack of space in the labs building area. Jimmy guessed that Cindy would still be awake and working hard, while Libby would probably be asleep in a sea of vinyl records and CDs.

It wouldn't be hard for the average citizen of Retroville to guess what the floats made by these five kids would look like. Sheen was working on a float with an Ultralord theme, showing the progress Ultralord took from Ultrababy, to Ultrakid, to Ultrateen and finally, to Ultralord.

Carl's project was a little less... purple. Carl's project was, to put it simply, a giant mobile petting zoo. A giant green field with a red barn and a dozen or so animals lazily grazing across the small landscape, all towed by a truck. Shaped like a llama.

Jimmy's own project was dedicated to science. Complete with holographic projections of the greatest scientists and inventors in history, from Thomas Edison to Leonardo DiVinci. Jimmy had spent the better part of a week upgrading his hover car so that it could carry the entire float into the air all by itself. The cherry on top; a giant lithium atom floating above the entire thing.

Jimmy wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his grease stained lab coat. It had been a while since he had taken on a project so big, and even longer since he had worked with Carl and Sheen. Time seemed to have started to speed by, recently. It seemed like just yesterday that Jimmy had been told that he was going to be getting a new brother or sister. Nothing much had changed since then. Sheen celebrated his sixteenth birthday party on planet Zeenu. Jimmy teamed up with Zixx, Travoltron and Tee to defend the earth from King Goobots return, and Libby bought a new pair of headphones. That, coupled with three or four incidents involving the fate of the universe and a particularly awkward school dance and it was pretty much the norm for James Isaac Neutron.

And then, Jimmy's sister was born.

Her name was Sally. And she was the second most troublesome girl that Jimmy had ever met. She hadn't been too much trouble when she was just an infant, and she was happy to spend her time staring at the ceiling and working out the first hundred digits of pi. But by the time she had learnt to crawl, her curiosity knew no bounds. First, there was the incident involving the Robo-Babysitter 3000, and then the time that she hijacked Goddard and flew across most of America, and her brief kidnapping by Grandma Taters. And all of that had only been the beginning. Day after day, Jimmy found himself struggling to look after his genius baby sister. It didn't take long for her personality to take shape. Before long she had started a life time feud with Baby Eddie, and as soon as she could speak, she was arguing with Jimmy and Cindy about the origins of matter.

Asking Timmy Turner for help had only proved to be a fruitless endeavour as well. Apparently, he was busy dealing with a baby of his own. Cosmo. Also, Cosmo and Wanda's new baby boy, 'Poof'. The Poof versus Sally battle of last year still made Jimmy feel a little bit sea sick. It had been a 'space pirates' battle for reasons far beyond Jimmy's comprehension, and Jimmy was still not completely sure who had won it in the end. But at least Sally and Poof had both signed the peace treaty.

Jimmy couldn't help but smile at the memories. Sally would be turning three years old this year. Which meant that the entire gang, with the exception of Sheen, were all either seventeen already, or would be turning seventeen sometime soon. It was hard for him to fully grasp sometimes, that he was growing up. Even looking in a mirror, it was hard not to see at least a part of his twelve year old self staring back at him. Whether it was the spark of childish curiosity in his sapphire blue eyes, or his all too innocent boyish smile.

Carl let out a loud snort, breaking the silence like a sledgehammer to a window.

Jimmy let out a long sigh. It was time to go to sleep. Jimmy had experimented with more than one way to eliminate sleep from his regimen of basic human needs, but so far- none of them had worked out very well. So once again, he was forced to figure out a way to systematically shut down at least most of his ever-running brain. Sometimes it was easy. But other times, like now for instance, it was a near impossible endeavour.

Whether it was because of Cindy, an invention, a villain, his friends or something else entirely- his mind was always racing with thought. It took a lot of work to get himself to relax enough for sleep, and it didn't help that his large variety of enemies had a tendency to attack without even the slightest regards to his bedtime. Jimmy slipped out of his oil stained lab coat, leaving it draped over his chair. Taking off his work goggles and wiping away a good portion of the oil and dirt that covered his face with a rag, Jimmy walked over towards the exit, doing his best not to awaken his sleeping friends.

The one thing that Cindy and Sheen had ever agreed on- other than how awesome Libby is- was the surprise at just how filthy Jimmy could get himself even doing the most simple of activities. Jimmy tended to agree- although he refused to admit it to Cindy. He decided to shower in the house before retiring to his room for the night. Tomorrow, he would visit Cindy to see how far she had progressed so far, and then the five of them- with Goddard, of course- would have a meeting to plan out there full scale models.

It was going to be a lot of fun.

Jimmy felt his feet leave the ground with a sudden 'whoosh' as he was sucked into a giant green tube. He waited patiently, until he finally found himself being launched out of the 'welcome' mat just outside the clubhouse. He landed safely on his feet, and watched the tube retract back into the ground. For some reason, the air tubes only ever seemed to work for him. For anybody else, Sheen especially, the tubes tended to send people either flying far into the air, or slamming into the hard ground floor of the lab. Jimmy smiled. At least that particular problem was more of a source of amusement than trouble.

**"James?"**

Jimmy turned around in his spot, to find himself staring at the delicate form of his little sister, Sally. "Ah, Sally- shouldn't you be in bed? It's very late..." he trailed off. There was something... off about her. From what he could see in the dark, she was clad in her pink flower pattern pyjamas, and her chest nut brown hair was flowing in the air- tied into a pair of long pigtails. She looked like a sullen doll. Jimmy frowned. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.

**"Yes, James. I am afraid there is."** Sally's voice sounded hollow and sad. Jimmy took a step closer to her, and squinted. He could barely make out the features in her face, but it was obvious that there was something on her mind. But more than that- she seemed... really, sad.

Jimmy had seen his sister cry before- over a scraped knee or having her thermo nuclear power system taken from her- but he had never seen her look so... so very sad. He felt a sharp pain in his chest. "Sally- please, tell me. What is it that's bothering you?" he asked. Sally let out a low sigh. Slowly, the darkness of the night began to twist and churn around her, covering her body in what seemed to be a cloak. The darkness gave a final flinch before allowing itself to take its final physical form. A long, flowing cloak- jet black with a long silver line over the front. The hood cast a shadow over her eyes, making her expression even harder to identify.

**"It is my most sincere of wishes that I had the hours of time it would take to explain to you the situation with accuracy. Unfortunately, I do not. So I must ask you to give me your trust. And to tell me something..."** Sally paused for a moment, allowing for an awkward silence to fill the air. Jimmy took a deep breath. By now, whatever fatigue he had been feeling before had completely dissipated. "Wha- what is it Sally? What do you want to know?" he asked.

**"Do you love Cynthia Aurora Vortex?"**

"Yes." Jimmy blinked at his own frankness. "I mean... Yes, I love her. I always have. Why?"

**"Y-yes... of course... But if that is the case, then why have you neglected to pursue a truly romantic relationship with her?"**

Jimmy sighed. "I don't know... I'm not one hundred precent confident that I... that I could handle that. I don't want to hurt her. and I definitely don't wish to endanger what little amount of friendship we currently share." he said.

**"I see. Your feelings are... pure."**

"Uh- um... Y-yeah, sure..." Jimmy stuttered, doing his best to hide his embarrassment. "Why do you ask, Sally?" he asked.

**"Your... relationship. The link, between you and Cynthia- it is very important- especially with the events that are soon to take place. You are... about to disappear, James. Your link with Cynthia is the only hope you have to make a return."**

"What? Sally- what are you talking about? I'm not going to-"

**"Yes, you are James. You have to. In order to stop the very fabric of reality from being destroyed... you will need to follow me. Into a world beyond reality. And to do that... you must have your existence in the world deleted."**

"The... the fabric of reality? A world beyond reality?" Jimmy sputtered. "What-"

**"As I said. There is not enough time for me to explain to you with accuracy the coming threat... Please... You have to trust me. In short- there is something coming. I mean- it's here now but... not in this universe. A creature- I mean an existence- that doesn't exist. A nothingness. It is hunting the people that threaten it. The heroes of the worlds in the multiverse. It will destroy everything in its search... and if it finds you- everybody you know and love will be plunged into an endless abyss. A hell beyond any description I could give."**

"The multiverse... How do you know all of this?"

**"Because I was born from that creature. The nothingness..."** she trailed off, and fought the urge to cry. "Please- please... James... you have to trust me. You have to come with me. I- everything... needs your help."

"Okay- Sally. It's okay. I trust you... I don't really understand but...If I can help, I will."

**"Thank you James. I cannot-"** Sally was cut off by the sound of rumbling in the earth. Sally shivered. **"No... no... please don't... not-... James! We have to go, now!"** she screamed. **"its coming- it's coming now! Just- tell me! One person that you are closest to! Somebody who's connection with you will be enough to form a pathway for your return!"**

"I don't- wha-" Jimmy frowned. "Goddard?"

And with that- Jimmy Neutron ceased to exist.

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"SHUT UP!"

Libby Folfax rolled her eyes and adjusted the volume on her music player to the highest point it could go. This did very little to drown out the sound of her best friend yelling at the top of her lungs at the two dipsticks that they had been made to work with- but at least it made it a little more bearable. And at this point, Libby really needed something to take the edge off. Usually, the new Greystar cover band- Linklovers- played at inconceivable volumes would be enough to have her zone out completely into her own little fantasy land.

But as she was learning the hard way- peace simply couldn't exist when Cindy Vortex, Sheen Estevez and Carl Wheezer were thrown into a room together. First, there was yelling about Carl calling Sheens Ultralord action figure a 'doll'. Then, a fight about lima beans and something called a 'Robofeind'. A 'what is scarier' thing. After a few minutes though, they both seemed to have agreed that the scariest thing in the world was Cindy Vortex. And that was only the beginning.

Libby rubbed her temples in a vain attempt to combat an inevitable headache. The four of them were stuck in a spare class room, with art supplies strewn all across the floor. Not just paint brushes and cotton either- but also piles of cotton, a variety of glitter and glues that ranged from 'E-Z Stick' to 'Ultra-Mega Heavy Duty'. It was a viable artist's paradise. Unfortunately, none of them were artists. Libby let out a low sigh that went completely unnoticed by the trio arguing in front of her. What kind of teacher did this to their students? Making them stay after school with a pair of crazy people- just to finish an art project for the Retroville festival that they had already finished. Sure, they hadn't exactly worked on it 'together'- but how could they be expected too? It was impossible to work with these people.

Libby found it hard enough just working with Cindy on a project for school- let alone the class outcasts. Couldn't Ms Fowl have simply accepted the two different projects instead of forcing them into a room until they finished a new one together?

"But I told you, Cindy! I can't use that kind of glue!" Carl exclaimed. Cindy twitched, as her face began to contort with supressed anger. "And I told you, Carl. They do not make glue out of Llama's!" she yelled. Sheens head popped out of a pile of purple cotton balls with a loud snort. "Of course you'd say that, Sandy! You're obviously in on the conspiracy!" he announced.

"My name is Cindy! CINDY! How many times do I have to explain that to you blockheads?" yelled Cindy.

Libby opened her mouth to beg them to settle down, but she decided against it at the last minute. It would be completely hopeless. As much as Libby loved her best friend, she knew better than anybody that it was next to impossible to stop her when she started to get angry like this. Cindy would argue and yell for hours- if that was what it took to make whoever was opposing her finally admit defeat. But, as Libby had learnt over the past few days, Carl and Sheen were a force to be reckoned with. Cindy had been arguing with the two of them for almost three hours straight now- and while Cindy was beginning to run herself ragged, Carl and Sheen looked like they could keep on arguing forever. But Cindy was competitive by nature. Over competitive, actually. And she couldn't let Carl and Sheen be better than her at anything- even arguing.

Finally deciding to go home early and leave the crazy people to argue in peace, Libby strode over to the door, turned the handle and gave it a sharp tug.

'Uh oh...'

"No- Don't you get it, Carl! Candy is obviously a robot! How else could she hang Butch on the flagpole by his underwear like that!"

"I thought that was Nick..."

"It was not! And it wasn't me, either Ultra-Freak!"

"Oh yeah? Then where were you on the afternoon of last Friday?"

"Kicking you in the face!"

'"Uh- no, Candy, you were kicking Oleander in the face then..."

"See!"

"My name isn't CANDY!"

"HEY! WILL YOU IDIOTS SHUT UP FOR A SECOND!" Libby bellowed. All at once, Cindy, Sheen and Carl shut their mouths, allowing an awkward silence to take over the room. "Jeez, Libby- there's no need to yell like-" Sheen was cut off mid-sentence by a particularly withering glare from Libby.

"The... the... the door..." Libby muttered under her breath, as she did her best to come to grips with the situation. "The doors locked. We... we're locked in the school... until... until... morning..." Libby let a short pause after every word, as if she were afraid of just saying the words themselves.

"Well that's fine! We just bust through the windows!" Sheen announced. Carl gulped. "But Sheen, won't they just be locked too?" he asked. Sheen scoffed. "Oh, please- no lock can surpass HRRRRGGGHHH!" he bellowed, as he began to pull at the window as hard as he could. "The windows here don't open ultra-buffoon." Cindy snorted. "We'll just have to break out." Carl let out a high pitched shriek. "We can't do that, Sapphire!" he yelled. "It's an emergency, Llama boy. And for the last time- it's CINDY!" yelled Cindy.

Suddenly, Libby picked up a chair and pounced at the window with every bit of force she could muster. With a loud 'BAM!' the chair bounced off of the window and slid out of her hands- landing directly on the top of Sheens head.

"OW!"

"Crimany..." Libby muttered to herself. "What are these things mad out of!" she demanded. Cindy shrugged. "I don't know, but I guess braking out isn't going to work..." she trailed off. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the room fell silent.

And then...

"Bark! Bark!"

Carl jumped in his spot. "Sheen! You're not going to scare me by pretending to be a were-dog again!" he said. Sheen blinked. "I wanna take credit for that and all, Carl- but that wasn't me. It was that dog." Sheen explained, pointing at the small silver puppy that was sitting in the corner of the room with what looked like a big goofy smile.

"Wait a second... there's a dog there!" Sheen bellowed in surprise. Cindy ignored him. "Hey there, buddy! How did you get in here?" she asked. The dog seemed to blink, and then it nodded. "Bark! Bark!" it announced, as it made its way toward the giant cupboard at the side of the room. With a small nod, the puppy squeezed in between the cupboard and the wall. And then after a few seconds, they could all hear the sound of his barking outside.

"There must be a hole in the wall behind this cupboard!" Cindy announced. "I think we got that, Trixie." scoffed Sheen. Cindy sent him a withering glare. Together, the four of them pulled the cupboard away from the wall and sure enough- there was a hole just big enough for them to squeeze through.

"Man- they really need to get somebody better to do the repairs around here..." Sheen mused out loud.

After a short struggle with Carl, everybody was finally out of the classroom- greeted by the jet black night sky. The time had flown by faster than Libby had thought, apparently.

"Bark! Bark!"

"Oh, thank you so much for helping us get out of there, doggie!" said Libby. "Yeah! Another minute in there with those two and I would have gone out of my mind!" said Cindy.

Carl and Sheen glanced at each other. "Do you think Olga's talking about us, Sheen?" asked Carl. Sheen shrugged. "I don't know, Carl. A girls mind is a complicated thing."

Libby ignored them, as Cindy walked over to them to continue their eternal argument. "Hmm... who do you belong too?" she mumbled to herself; as she bent down to check the puppy's collar.

'Goddard Neutron'

"Goddard? Your name's Goddard?" asked Libby. The puppy nodded and happily licked her face.

"Bark! Bark!"

"Goddard, huh? Do you want to come to my house? You'll just have to be quiet when Grandma takes her morning, afternoon, evening and night time naps- that's all." said Sheen. Libby flinched. How long had he been standing next to her like that?

"No way, Sheen! He should come to my place and we can play Super Llama Adventure Time!" said Carl. "No way- Dogs don't like board games! They like video games!" said Sheen.

Now, Cindy joined the fray. "Oh no, Goddard is coming with me! I don't want him to catch your stupid!"

As the perpetual arguing continued, Libby and Goddard shared a smile. "Let's go home, alright Goddard?" she asked.

"Bark! Bark!"

With that, Libby and Goddard went back home- followed by Carl, Sheen and Cindy about ten minutes later. With that, something changed between them. The quest to find Goddard's real owner- 'Something Neutron' and the constant battle to figure out who would become his rightful owner would go on to bond the four of them together. Creating the single strangest friendship group in history. An overly competitive, aggressive, kind and intelligent blonde girl. A soft hearted, weak willed but sincere 'llama boy'. A cool, music loving and down to earth girl. And a hyperactive low attention spanned boy who always seemed to have eaten too much sugar.

And also, a dog. With silver fur and golden yellow eyes.

Together, the five of them would have adventures involving a phantom at Retroland, and an intergalactic game show. But through all of the zaniness and fun that followed, none of them could shake the feeling that something was missing.

Or maybe... some_one_...

* * *

_**"All of the pieces are coming together. Slowly. Soon enough- we shall have enough power to destroy the Castle de le Fabricce."**_

_**"Excellent."**_

* * *

_To Be Continued in 'Nickelodeon: Exodus'_

* * *

**(AN: Okay- there it is! I hope that you are not *too* disappointed by it- but this 'Nickelodeon' story has been something I've been working towards for quite a while. This chapter is really more of a prologue to that than an epilogue for itself. Anyway- if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. By the way... spoiler alert- Sally spoke the same way that the Brainscrubber program in chapter three spoke... for a reason. A mysterious one.)**

**Please Read and Review**


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